Virginian sentenced for beating hitchhiker in Neb.

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old Virginia man has been given 30 to 40 years in a Nebraska prison, convicted of severely beating a hitchhiker in western Nebraska.

Justin Adolph, of Lynchburg, Va., was sentenced on Tuesday in Cheyenne County District Court to consecutive terms of 15 to 20 years. He’d been convicted of attempted first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit attempted first-degree assault.

Authorities say Adolph beat a hitchhiker that he and a traveling companion had picked up in North Platte on June 1 last year. The hitchhiker, Tommy Crawford, later was found badly beaten alongside Interstate 80 about 130 miles west. He has since recovered.

Court records say Adoph’s companion, 33-year-old Stephanie O’Neal, of Clarksville, Tenn., was convicted of four misdemeanor counts of compounding a felony. She is awaiting sentencing.